A Memory Returns
by Porsche101
Summary: Lightning thought he wouldn't be able to make it through another anniversary of the day he had lost his mother and sister, but then something happens that none of them were expecting...
1. Chapter 1

There was one day in Lightning's life that he wanted to forget and never look back on, but the memory will be forever imprinted in his memory. He couldn't take his eyes off of the calendar that was taped to the tan wall of his cozy cone. He stared at the number 15 until he couldn't take it any more. He'd been choking back tears for weeks now and he didn't think he could hide it any longer from his friends in Radiator Springs. Doc was already suspicious and who knows who else had discovered that something was wrong. That particular date, March 15, 1994 was the exact date he had lost his mom and his sister in a terrible accident. Every time March fifteenth rolls around, he's depressed for days sometimes even weeks. His mom was a 2006 Mazda Miata MX-5 while his sister was a 2007 Porsche Boxster; she was seven years younger than him. His dad died before he even knew him. He averted his eyes to the sunlight that was streaming through the window. He thought about that day when the accident happened… _his mom was racing as fast as she could with him and his sister racing along side beside her. They were in the middle of a gun shooting in a down town mall._

He could still hear his mom's voice:_ "'Lightning, if anything ever happens to me you and your sister run. You run as fast as you can and never look back!'" He looked up and saw her bright green eyes blazing with fear. He nodded and looked over to his 7 year old sister. That's when all hell broke loose. He had heard a gun shot and his mother screaming bloody murder._

_He looked over and he didn't see her beside him. "'Oh, no!'" he cried. He looked back and his mom was sitting in a pool of oil with her eyes wide and her mouth agape. Sadness, nausea, panic and frustration flooded into him all at once. _

_He had looked desperately around for his sister, Callie, but he couldn't see her. He had tried calling for her but his voice was drowned out by all of the noise. There was nothing he could have done…_

His horrible flashback was interrupted by the sound of knocking on his cone's door. "Hey buddy? You in there?" asked Mater from the outside. He shook his hood and tried to stop any more tears that would threaten to roll onto his hood.

"I can pull it off for a few more days," he whispered to himself. He opened the door. "Hey Mater, how's it goin'?" asked Lightning casually.

"Doc sent me fer ya. He said it was time to get up," said Mater grinning at him. Lightning started his engine and pulled out of the cone into the sunlight. He started onto the road with Mater driving along beside him. "So bud what took ya? Its noon and you was still in yur cone," Mater chuckled, "slept in much?" Lightning laughed.

"Yeah, I was really tired. I slept like a mummy," he lied as he stifled a yawn. Actually he didn't have a goodnight's sleep for a while. At the café Sally spotted Lightning and Mater coming down the road. She smiled at them; Lightning returned it. She studied his expression closely. She has noticed that he had been acting strange lately and she wanted to keep an eye on him. Down the road Lightning could feel someone watching him. He looked up again and saw Doc and Sally looking at him. Lightning felt as though they were examining him from the inside out. He realized that he too was staring at them. He quickly looked up at Mater. "So, uh, are you going tractor tipping?" asked Lightning.

"Nah, without you it ain't no fun, bud," Mater replied glumly. "Hey, do ya wanna go tonight?" asked Mater excitedly.

"No, I can't. I don't feel so well," said Lightning. He blinked at the road then looked back up at Mater.

"Why, what's wrong?" asked Mater.

"I dunno. My tank hurts a little bit." And that was the truth. It had been bothering him a little bit lately. They pulled up into the café. Lightning went over next to Sally.

"Hey Lightning. Doc was starting to get annoyed that you were sleeping in," laughed Sally.

"Of course," said Lightning.

"Hey dudes! Guess what!?" yelled Fillmore racing down the street from his colorful eighties dome house. "I made, like, a new flavor for my organic fuel!" said the VW hippie excitedly.


	2. Chapter 2

"As long as it doesn't kill anyone," Sarge grunted.

"Come on man show a little love. Its strawberry flavor," said Fillmore smiling in his usual dreamy way dreamy way.

"I don't care what flavor it is because I'll never drink that stuff," growled Sarge.

Lightning raised a windshield at them. "Have they been fighting even before I was here?" whispered Lightning, not taking his eyes off of them.

"Yeah, well, for as long as I've been here they have," replied Sally.

"Time for that to stop," Lightning said tiredly.

"Yeah, but they'll be fighting till the day they die," laughed Sally. Lightning twitched at the word 'die.'

"Uh, yeah. You got that right Sal." Lightning forced himself to smile.

A sudden feeling of fatigue washed over him. He closed his eyes and moaned.

"I guess driving down the street was too much for him," said Flo worriedly.

"Stickers, you okay?" asked Sally nervously.

"Yeah, I'm just really…." She pursed her lips. He took a heavy sigh and he was gone.

"Is he okay?" asked Lizzie shakily coming up to them.

"I don't know," Sally answered her. Guido came up and poked him with his fork lift.

"Parlate inglese?" asked Guido in Italian.Mater burst out laughing. Doc came up next to Lightning and examined him with his eyes. He had noticed his sluggishness on the track yesterday and now he was certain that something was up. Doc silently sighed.

"Mater, go tow him to his cone please. He's had enough for one day."

"All right then Doc. I don't know why he just passed out like dat. He done said down da road that he got plenty of sleep last night," said Mater once he was through with his laughter.

"Hmm, why would he have lied about that?" asked Doc suspiciously.

Mater just shrugged. Lightning flinched when Mater hooked his cable to his bumper. They watched as Mater drove on down the road with Lightning.

"Are you gonna try to see what's wrong, Doc?" asked Sally.

"Oh yeah, I've noticed some changes in Lightning's performance on the track, his attitude and his sudden tiredness greatly. Something's not right." Sally and Doc were sitting outside Lightning's cone waiting for him to wake up. The sun had set a few hours ago and Doc was growing impatient. He growled for the third time.

"Doc, be patient. He'll wake up sooner or later," said Sally. Inside the cone Lightning was stirring. He slowly opened his eyes, his vision was blurry but it slowly improved as he looked around the dim cone. He groaned. _Did I pass out? _ thought Lightning to himself. He looked out the window. A thousand stars gleamed back at him. His eyes widened as he looked over at the clock It was nearly eleven! He yawned and opened the door. He found Sally and Doc sitting there looking at him.

"Uh, hi?" he said uncomfortably.

"Hey, sleepy head," said Doc, smiling. Lightning didn't return it.

"Is there any reason why you're just sitting outside my come like this? How long have been out here anyway?" laughed Lightning.

"Okay, let's get to the point, kid what's going on? Do you really think that I'm this stupid? Well, let me tell you something, I'm not stupid enough to not know that something is bugging you," said Doc smoothly but firmly. Lightning had to think for a minute to understand what he had just said.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" asked Lightning. His throat was starting to close up; making it harder to breathe and talk.

"Lightning, obviously something has happened and we want to help you," said Sally worriedly. "We've both noticed that you're acting very different from what you did before." Lightning was starting to get angry.

"There's nothing wrong." He was lying through his teeth, and he knew it. Sally rolled up a few feet so that he could see all of her details and the little blue she had in her green eyes clearly.

"Stickers we just want to know what's bothering you," she said quietly. For a second Lightning actually saw his mom in Sally, her eyes, her beauty, the way she talked so smoothly…

He felt the tears coming on. "There's nothing bothering me."

"Then why did you pass out at the café today?" Doc joined the conversation.

"I didn't get much sleep."

"That's not what Mater said." Lightning growled.

"Listen, there's nothing wrong, okay? You've wasted your time!" he said glaring at them menacingly. "Just…go get some rest. Sally, you have to be exhausted," he said giving her one of his TV smiles, apparently trying to keep his cool. Doc just gave him a look and drove off down the street, but he wasn't about to give up that easy. Sally watched him go and turned back to face Lightning. He saw the tears in her eyes. She took a deep breath.

"Lightning, I don't like it when you lie to us," she whispered. He opened his mouth but then closed it again; finding that he had nothing to say. He tried to talk again but Sally was already driving away toward the motel lobby.

_"'I don't like it when you lie to us.'" _Sally's voice echoed in his head as he watched her go. He turned to go into his cone. He looked up at the calendar. Three days from now will be the anniversary of the day he lost his mom and sister. He sighed and closed the door and dreamt of his mom, his sister and him reuniting.

Lightning's eyes flickered open to the stream of sunlight that had been shining in his eyes. He looked up at the calendar and picked up the pen next to the alarm clock on the table. He reached over with his tire and marked off the number twelve. He looked over at the number fifteen with the pen tip still touching the calendar. Anger flooded through him and he pressed the pen even harder and dragged it down; ripping a big hole in the middle of the page and through the page behind it. He glared at the gaping rip and threw the pen down. Anger was soon replaced with sadness. He sank down onto his tires. He missed his sister and his parents. He had no family at all besides the Radiator Springs residents. He sank even lower so that his undercarriage was touching the floor. He heard someone stop in front of his cone. He heard a soft knock against the aluminum door of the cone.

"Lightning?" he heard Sally ask. He had to come out sometime. He put his tire on the pedal to open the door. First he saw her shadow, then her tires, her bumper, her lips, her hood, and finally, her eyes that were brimmed with tears.

"Sally, what is it?" Lightning asked rolling forward so that their bumpers were inches apart. He nudged her fender. She sobbed.

"Why?" she asked him quietly.

"Why, what?" he whispered. She looked up at him and then her eyes moved to the calendar behind him.

"Why is there a rip in your calendar?" she asked. Lightning shrugged. She looked at him carefully. "You didn't just do that for any reason," she said suspiciously. Lightning felt his throat closing up again as she stared at him. Her green eyes had a powerful stare. He took in a deep breath. "Lightning, talk to me," she whispered. He closed his eyes and drove past her. She followed him all the way to the back of the cozy cone. He stared at the huge picture of himself smiling on the side of his trailer before he turned around. She looked deep into his eyes trying to find the answer to this, but all she got was blackness. Lightning took in a deep breath before starting.


	3. Chapter 3

"I guess I should start at the beginning," he said.

"That would be nice," said Sally with a relieved smile that he had finally decided to talk.

"I had a sister once. Her name was Callie," said Lightning slowly. Sally opened her mouth and was about to ask him what happened to Callie but she thought better of it. "She was a beautiful silver 2007 Porsche Boxster with blue eyes. My mom's name was Michelle. She was a dark gray 2006 Mazda Miata MX-5 with green eyes. "They were both beautiful and fast, I can tell you that," he said.

"And your dad?" she asked shakily.

"He died before I knew him. Mom used to say that I was the spitting image of him," laughed Lightning. Sally nodded. This was surprisingly painful; he had never spoken of his family since the accident, until now. "And one day my mom, sister, and I were at the downtown mall and…there was a gun shooting there." Sally gasped.

"Oh Lightning!" He closed his eyes and saw the look on his mom's face when she was shot. His eyes snapped back open.

"And we were caught in the middle of it. My mom was shot." His voice started to crack horribly. He cleared his throat. Sally rolled up quickly and comforted him. "It happened when I was fourteen. March 15 1994," he muttered. Sally gasped and looked at him.

"That's the day after tomorrow," she said. "Oh Lightning, I had no idea! Why didn't you tell me!?" she wailed. He looked back down at her and gave her a look.

"Why are you crying?" he asked. "Because I care for you Lightning. Your sorrow is my sorrow." Lightning didn't answer as they leaned into each other.

"It's been eight years," muttered Lightning. He closed his eyes. "My sister and I were so close. I almost killed myself the year after it had happened. I would have if it weren't for my friend," said Lightning. Her eyes widened in surprise at that thought. "No one else knows. Not even Mack. Just you," he said.

"How long have you been keeping it up?" she asked. "I dunno…couple of weeks?" he said uncertainly.

"Oh my god," she whispered. "Doc has to know," she said.

"No! Sally no one can find out!" The sudden outburst surprised her.

"Why?" she asked.

"Just…because!" he said. She nuzzled his fender.

"Oh come on Stickers," she said. Lightning shook his hood sadly.

"Hey buddy I…oh…sorreh…was I uh, interruptin' sumthin?" said Mater from up behind them. They turned around.

"Oh no, not at all!" said Lightning blinking rapidly.

"Why is you two cryin'?" asked Mater.

"Uh, emotional break down?" said Sally uncertaintly. Lightning shot her a sideways glance. He went into drive and rolled forward to Mater. He turned and drove ahead of him. Sally trailed after Lightning. They pulled up onto the road with Lightning in the middle and Sally and Mater on either side of him. They drove in silence for a while. He stared at the road thinking about what he had told Sally.

"So bud I wus wonderin' if ya wanted tuh go tractor tippin' tonight," said Mater happily. Lightning was about to answer but he heard someone clear their throat. He looked over to see Sheriff next to him. He looked around. He hadn't realized that they had arrived at the café.

"Yes Sheriff?" asked Lightning turning his attention back to the old patrol car.

"I don't want you two going tractor tipping tonight. I'm tired of the tractors trampling into our town every time you two go out on a night's fun with the combine, Frank," he explained. Lightning nodded, excepting the reason to not go tractor tipping happily. He didn't feel like going tractor tipping anyway.

"Well, no Frank tonight, Mater," said Lightning turning his attention back to the tow truck.

"Aw man!" he said depressingly. Sheriff rolled his eyes and pulled away toward Doc who was sitting under a pump. "Man, when me and my family lived on a farm mah ma and pa always ruined my fun!" pouted Mater.

"You and your family lived on a farm?" asked Lightning.

"Sure did!" said Mater proudly. "I have an older brother and a younger sister," said Mater.

"Oh."

"Do you have any siblings, bud?" asked Mater. Lightning looked at Mater for a minute before he answered.

"No. No, I don't," said Lightning. He looked down to the ground.

"Oh man was you lucky! I had my bro and lil' sis screamin' all the time! I about went crazy," said Mater. "And my ma and pa was da best! Oh man, we had so much fun together," Mater continued happily. I wish I could go back to those times again."

"Yeah, so do I Mater," said Lightning. He gave a forced smile that he hoped didn't look to fake.

"What about your parents?" Mater asked Lightning. He swallowed hard.

"My mom was a car that you could definitely get along with easily. And uh…she was probably the nicest car that you could ever meet. I really miss her a lot," said Lightning. He bit the inside of his cheeks again.

"Whut do ya mean you miss her? Can't you call her up and talk to her?" asked Mater confusedly. Sally cast a nervous glance in Lightning's direction.

Lightning shook his hood.

"I wish I could… she's long distance."

"Oh," said Mater. "So is mine," he continued. Lightning nodded slowly. Sally's tank lurched in an uncomfortable way. She was worried that Lightning would be reminded too much of his past. She swallowed. Mater was talking about when his family went on vacation to California to visit his uncle and little cousin Rene while Lightning just looking like he wanted to race up to Wheel Well as fast as he could and drive himself off of the cliff. She shifted uncomfortably when Mater switched to the topic of how close he was to his sister and mom when he was a young tow truck. Lightning looked like he was about to crack any second now.

"Uh, hey Stickers, you want to take a drive up to Wheel Well? Maybe we can figure out when we can start cleaning it out and fixing it up," she said with a nervous smile. Lightning nodded gratefully. "Sorry to interrupt your little stories Mater but Lightning and I really need to discuss Wheel Well right now," said Sally apologetically.

"Ah that's all right Ms. Salleh. I can tell him da stories tommorah," said Mater with a goofy smile. Lightning glanced at Mater but he couldn't smile. He drove off after Sally, who was waiting patiently for him at the end of the road. She smiled at him warmly. He didn't even look at her. He just continued up the road. Sally shook her hood and followed him up the side of the mountain. She drove up next to him and looked at him carefully. She noticed that his eyes seemed to be glued to the road. From a side view, the sun made Lightning's eyes seem bright green. She couldn't take her eyes off of his. They were full of confusion, sadness and frustration. Her blank expression turned to sorrow. She felt bad for Lightning having to go through the pain of losing his sister and mom over and over again. She knew what it felt like to lose someone you loved. She lost her grandpa and age twelve and her dad at age sixteen. She thought back to her memories with her grandpa and her dad. She felt her eyes tearing up, but she just shrugged them off. It was a while ago anyway. They pulled up into the lot of Wheel Well. She looked into the spokes of the giant wheel above the motel. She looked closer and saw a bird's nest deep into the cracks of the spaces between the spokes. She heard the birds chirping. One let out a particularly loud squawk. She smiled and turned around to go toward the edge of the cliff to sit next to Lightning. She looked at the red, yellow, and pink sunset stretched out over the sky in front of them. She looked down at the ground and admired how the cacti cast pretty shadows across the sandy Arizona desert. She looked over at Lightning. He seemed deep in thought. She nuzzled his fender affectionately. It brought him out of his trance. His blinked and looked over at her. He smiled and returned the gesture. They stayed touching each other's fenders and watched the sunset until the stars were twinkling above them in the heavens. Lightning's eyes searched the sky; looking for and naming constellations.

"Hey, look at that one," said Sally pointing out one that looked like two hearts connected at the point.

"Wow," Lightning breathed. "Hey look over there. The big dipper, or is that the little dipper?" Lightning asked. Sally laughed.

"I don't know."

"I never could star gaze because we lived in the city, there was always too much pollution. The sunsets were always weird too; the pollution in the air made the sun look purple," said Lightning. Sally nodded.

"When I was little I would always go up on top of our building and look at the stars."

"Good idea," whispered Lightning. They saw a shooting star streak across the sky. They gasped.

"Wow, it's so beautiful up here at night," stated Lightning.

"Yeah..." said Sally dreamily. Sally turned to Lightning and was about to tell him that she loved him, but a sound of an engine cut her off. Lightning furrowed his brow and looked in his rearview mirrors. A pair of headlights were coming up the road. They turned around to see Doc looking at them. He extinguished his headlights so that they couldn't blind the two anymore.

"Hey you two, what are you doing up here so late?" he asked.

"Just star gazing," replied Sally. He looked up to the stars.

"It's a perfect night to." Lightning nodded in agreement. "Well come on, let's head back to the town; I don't want you two up here all night with Lightning not having headlights." They followed Doc down the road back to town.

"So Stickers, how are you doing?" she asked him quietly.

"Better than I was," he replied. Doc listened in to their conversation from the front.

"Yeah that's good," she said. Lightning nodded.

"How come you're not filling up as much?" she asked.

"I haven't been hungry. My tank has been hurting for a while now," he said.

"Oh," said Sally.

"You know, I can prescribe you some medicine for that hurting tank of yours," said Doc.

"I don't think it's that kind of pain though," said Lightning. "I just…haven't been hungry. That's all." Doc frowned. _What did he mean by 'it's not that kind of pain'? _They pulled up near the café. Everyone had already gone to bed with the 'sorry, we're closed' signs in their windows. Radiator Springs seemed like a ghost town at night.

"Good night you two," said Doc, going into his clinic.

"Good night Doc," Sally called back to him. They pulled up into the cozy cone lobby.

"Doc heard the whole conversation didn't he?" asked Lightning.

"Yeah I guess so, but you're gonna have to tell him sooner or later anyway Stickers."

"I know that Sal," said Lightning, apparently thinking. "I will."


	4. Chapter 4

**The Human World: New York City**

"No! Get away from me!" she screamed at him from down the hall. Hot, fresh tears streamed down her cheeks. Evan had been hurting her since a month after they started going out. He stumbled to her, knocking down a few pictures along the way.

"Come here my little," he hiccupped, "pretty." He laughed again in his drunken way. His dark brown hair was messy and strewn with fly-a-ways, his button down shirt and the t-shirt underneath was wrinkled and twisted, his jeans had the pockets hanging out and the black leather belt was loose and undone and his shoe laces were undone, making his shoes ready to come off any minute. The bruise on her shoulder and neck throbbed painfully.

"No!" she screamed at him. She found and threw a vase at him from a table in the hallway.

Callie turned when she heard the vase break and darted into her bedroom. She closed the door and made sure she had locked it. Callie collapsed onto her bed. She started to sob uncontrollably. "I want to go back…I want to go back…I want to go back…I want to go back…take me back…take me back…." She said over and over. She missed her brother, Lightning, and her mom; even though she knew they were both dead. Her mom was shot in a gun shooting and she lost Lightning in the crowd, she never saw him again since that day when she was seven. She was fifteen now, going on sixteen in a few weeks. She had been living with her boyfriend in his apartment. When she first arrived in the human world, she was lost and confused, very, very confused. Evan had started out being Callie's best friend, moving on to being her boyfriend. He helped her get started by helping her enroll in a school, being her good friend and even loaning her money. But now, he had become her worst nightmare since he had started going out to bars every Friday night with his friends and coming home wasted. She actually feared him now. She was too afraid to leave him because she didn't want to be hurt or even killed; which had to be the worst thing a girl could ever face in a relationship. She listened to the traffic outside. The honks and the sounds of car's and bus's engines slowly faded away as she drifted into a deep sleep.

Callie moaned and shifted her weight but when she didn't feel the bed underneath her she opened her eyes. Her surroundings slowly came into focus. She looked around in a confused state. It seemed she was somewhere in Arizona. She blinked and took a glance at the places around her that showed that the town she woke up in wasn't vacant. She looked to the side and saw a gas station that was called 'Flo's V8 Café.' Then something caught her eye. It was a mirror, but it wasn't on the side of the building or anything, it was just there! Right there on the side of her head. She gasped and tried to move the mirror to angle it so she could look down her side. It was just as she had wished. She was a car again! She slowly looked back up and felt a smile spread across her bumper. She tried to start her engine but it wouldn't turn over for her. She gritted her teeth and tried again. She jumped when it sprang to life inside her. She wasn't used to this anymore. She shifted to drive and eased her way around the corner. Then she saw two cars talking in the lobby of a motel that was called the 'Cozy Cone.' She gasped and reversed back into the shadows of one of the huge traffic cone garages beside her. She looked back over to the cars and listened as hard as she could to hear what they were saying.

"Stickers, why did you tell me first though?" Callie heard the light blue Porsche ask.

"Well, because you had weaseled it out of me and because I love you Sally. I would always tell you something first," replied a red car that looked like he was a racer.

"I love you too, Lightning," Sally replied.

"Lightning?" Callie asked herself. "No, that's impossible. It can't be my brother… can it?" she asked herself. _Well think Callie, how many cars are named Lightning? _"Not that many," she replied to her conscious. She examined the red car again. He looked an awful lot like her brother, or the memories she had of him when she was seven.

"Listen, I'm sure you're tired. You've been going to bed so late for the past few weeks trying to finish all of this paperwork," he said making a gesture toward the desk. She looked over at it with him.

"I guess you're right," she sighed.

"Go and get some sleep, you need it more than anyone right now," he muttered.

"I think we both need a good night's sleep, Stickers," she said with a nudge to his fender. He nodded in agreement. She watched them drive out of the lobby and kiss goodnight. When they went into their cones for the night she took in a deep breath. This night has been very unsettling for her. First her boyfriend came home wasted, again and now she ended up back in the cars world. What else is going to happen?


	5. Chapter 5

Callie opened her eyes wearily after a long, restless sleep. She had decided to park behind the café in the town. What had woken her up was the sound of voices coming from around the side of the building toward the front. She slowly made her way around the left side of the establishment toward the voices while still making sure she was in the shadows, out of sight.

"Check out the new flames!" a strange Impala low rider announced excitedly by going around the cars in a circle with one front tire off the ground. They were pretty impressive. His overall paint was black while his ghost flames licked down his sides in a vibrant blue, getting darker as they stretched down to his rear. In his black paint you could just see a little bit of sparkle when the sun hit it just right. When he started to near her in the turn of his circle she gasped and backed up so he didn't catch a glimpse of her silver paint.

"Ooh! Look at you lookin' like a stud! Mmm, mm! That's my man!" exclaimed a light blue show car that appeared to be the owner of the joint. She heard the low rider chuckle at her comment.

"Yeah, how do you paint yourself anyway Ramone? How can you reach all the way around from bumper to bumper like that?" asked the light blue Porsche that her 'brother' had been talking to last night.

"Oh, sorry señorita, but that's a trade secret. I cannot reveal it," he said shaking his hood.

"Aw, come on Ramone!" a rusty tow truck begged. But the car just shook his hood again. Callie furrowed her brow. What was so important about a car painting secret anyway? The tow truck turned and looked directly in Callie's direction. Her eyes widened and she stood perfectly still, wondering if he was looking at her or something else. He slowly made her way toward her while the others were going on about how many funny paint jobs Ramone has had over the years. She slowly backed up away from him.

"Hey Mater, what's going on?" asked a dark blue Hudson Hornet.

"I… I think I see sumthin' back there," he said uncertainly as he continued to come forward. Then she saw the red racecar pull up beside him. She was finally able to see his face. She recognized his blue eyes immediately. They weren't hard to forget. They showed that he was indeed the Lightning McQueen she knew from all those years ago.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm gonna find out," he said as he threw his tow cable in her direction. She felt the hook grab her bumper and heard the 'dwong' sound as the line went straight. She pursed her lips and squinted her eyes as the line dragged her forward. He backed up and continued to pull her until she was exposed in the sunlight. She heard the other cars gasp as they saw her. They moved up around her in a half circle to get a better look at her. She looked over at Lightning and saw the look of shock on his face. _No, no this… this isn't her. This couldn't-this isn't Callie. It couldn't be… that's impossible! _he thought in a panic as he examined the car over. He stared into her blue eyes as she stared into his own. She didn't even notice that the tow truck had taken his tow hook out from under her bumper.

"Hello, can I get you something to drink, honey?" asked Flo. She glanced over at her and nodded.

"Unleaded is fine," she said quietly. Flo smiled kindly and drove away to get her order.

"Howdy, I'm Mater! Whut's yur name?" asked the tow truck.

"Callie," she replied to him.

"Callie what?" he continued. She looked over at Lightning before answering.

"Callie McQueen," she said not taking her eyes off of him. Mater gasped and looked at Lightning.

"Well fancy that! She gots the same name as you Lightnin'!"

"Yeah… fancy that…" he said absentmindedly.

Author's Note:

Sorry this chapter is so short! I wrote this late at night and you know how you can't really think straight when it's past your regular time.


	6. Chapter 6

After introductions were made around the town Sally offered Callie a room at the Cozy Cone. She just couldn't pass it off since she had nowhere else to go. She was cone number two, right next to her brother's cone. She wasn't sure if she felt comfortable about that. Lightning didn't even think he was agreeing with that. They were still a little edgy around each other and they both had their reasons. Lightning had thought she had died in the gun shooting and all of a sudden she just appears out of nowhere? He found that sort of weird and out of the ordinary. On her side of the story, she didn't know how he was and what kind of car he had turned into. He had always seemed sort of cocky according to her memories. He could be a total jerk! And she wasn't sure if she wanted to find out or not.

The sun had set a few hours ago and the stars were already gleaming down at the town. Callie looked up at them in awe. In New York in the human world, she could never see this many stars. She was sitting up at the top of a cliff in front of a second motel called the Wheel Well over looking the land. Down below she could see the interstate along with the headlights of other cars, a beautiful waterfall and the town that looked like just a bunch of black dots scattered in one area. She was really up high. Good thing she wasn't afraid of heights. Suddenly she heard an engine behind her. She turned around and saw a pair of headlights rounding the corner. At least it wasn't Lightning. She squinted against the headlights as the car faced her. She couldn't see who it was for the bright lights were the only thing she could see.

"Callie?" she heard the car asked. She recognized the voice as Doc Hudson's. He extinguished his lights and rolled forward. "What are you doing up here?"

"I just felt like getting away is all," she replied quietly like the shy car she was. She turned back around to over look the dark landscape again. He rolled up next to her and looked up to the heavens.

"Beautiful night," she heard him comment.

"It is," she agreed. "I could never see stars like this in New York."

"You lived in New York?" She opened her mouth but stopped herself as she realized that she had lived in the Big Apple in the _human world_, not the car world.

"Uh, yeah… sort of," she said slowly. She couldn't tell anyone about the human world. They'd think she was crazy and send her to a nut house!

"Sort of?"

"Yeah… near New York. Not directly there."

"Hmm, like Long Island?" he asked her.

"…Yeah," she replied as she recalled where Long Island was on the map.

"So what happened between you and Lightning? Did you split up?"

"He didn't tell you?" She looked over at him. She saw his brow furrow in confusion.

"Tell us what exactly?" She paused before answering. Her eyes moved back to the view that the cliff overlooked.

"When I was little, around seven or so, we lived in New York. One day we were at the downtown mall with our mother and…" her voice trailed off as she remembered that awful evening.

"It's okay, you do not have to tell me if you don't want to, Callie," he said. She looked back up at the old car.

"Yea, I'm still sensitive about it."

"You don't have to speak about it now. It's understandable. But whatever it is, Lightning's bothered about it as well." Now it was her time to be confused.

"He is?" she asked. She thought he didn't care, not at all. He probably never even tried to find her after she was lost in the crowd at the mall.

"Yes, he's a good car. Has a good heart. He turned this whole town around. You may not know this but he races in NASCAR."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that out when I noticed the no headlights feature and all of his stickers," she laughed.

"Hmm, mm. One day when he was on his way to a big tie-breaker race in California, he got ejected out of his trailer and he ended up here. Ever since that happened, the town has never been better. He brought life back to this town. Without him, this place probably would have been vacated by now."

"Really?" she asked with surprise in her voice. Maybe she misjudged him…

"Yeah, we love this town and Lightning came to love it too. We're just one big happy family here." She lowered her gaze to the ground, thinking about how her brother had done such a big favor to these residents. "Of course, when Lightning changed the town, the town changed him." She looked back up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Lightning was a big-shot then. His ego was sky high and he was just so full of himself. A selfish car," he explained. "But then he arrived here. He learned that there was much more to life than just the finish line. The town helped him see that." She kept her gaze locked on him. He looked over to her and their eyes met. He nodded at her. "Big difference between the Lightning then and the Lightning now," he sighed. She watched his dark blue eyes move to the sky again. "It's very late; we should probably start heading back." He reversed to head back onto the road. She followed him in one swift movement. She pulled up next to him and stayed silent the whole way back, thinking about Lightning and the way he was back then. She thought he was the car now that he was then. But she thought wrong. She made up her mind: she had to talk to him.

Callie opened her eyes wearily. She had slept like a rock the whole night. She needed it too. She yawned and stretched inside her cone. She looked down at the button to open the door and pressed it lightly. The crisp summer air and the bright comforting sunlight greeted her warmly. She smiled and started her engine to pull out into the lot of the motel. She felt the sun's rays slide down her body the farther she pulled out. She turned and looked at Lightning's cone and frowned at the open doorway. She drove toward the street and looked down. The others were at the café, enjoying their breakfast, or lunch considering she didn't know what time so woke up, and talking to one another in a cheery manner. She drove on down the road and pulled up into the parking lot. Surprisingly, she was greeted with several 'good mornings'.

"Well, looked who decided to get up!" stated Flo as she pulled up.

"Mornin' Miss. Callie!" greeted Mater with a goofy grin. She smiled at them all, and then she noticed that Lightning wasn't there. Her eyes darted around, searching for the red car.

"Looking for Lightning?" asked Doc from her left side. She looked at him and noticed his half smile. She nodded in reply. "He's at Willie's Butte. Mater can escort you if you don't know where it is."

"I know where to find it," Callie informed him. Sally had given her a "grand tour" when she arrived. Doc nodded to her. She turned around and raced toward the direction it was in. From down the road she could hear a powerful racing engine and knew at once that it was him. She hid in the shade of a giant cactus to prevent him from catching sight of her. She watched him race around the dirt track like there was no tomorrow, hugging the curves and turns in the track. When he rounded the final turn he did a perfect power slide. Her mouth fell open in awe as he crossed the finish line. He braked hard; apparently that was his final lap of the day. Callie rolled forward and, unfortunately, the sun caught her headlight. It shone brightly enough so that Lightning caught it in his peripheral vision. He turned towards her and caught her eye. She gasped but didn't try to run away from him.

"Callie? What are you doing here?" he asked a he drove up the hill to her. He stopped when he was level with her.

"I--I just… thought I'd watch you race," she stammered nervously looking in every direction but his. Lightning gave her a look.

"Is that so?" he asked her, looking her up and down. She nodded and looked him bravely in the eye, noticing that he had the same blue color she did.

"Hmm, do you race yourself?" he asked her.

"What?" she asked him in astonishment.

"Do you race? I figured that you would considering how fast you are," he said with a shrug of his fenders.

"No, I don't."

"Do you want to give it a try?" he asked as he turned back toward the track, motioning towards it with his tire. She looked at him for a minute. He grinned at her.

"Oh, why not," she sighed as she rolled forward.

"But first I have to show you something," he said as he rolled down the hill. She followed him.

"I'm sure you saw me make that last turn," he said.

"Yes, I did," she answered him.

"You know how I did it?"

"No."

"If you go hard enough left, you'll find yourself turning right," he repeated Doc's words.

"Translation…?"

"Brake hard and turn right. It requires practice; it's something you have to teach yourself how to do. Do you want to try it?" he asked her. She looked at the turn on the track with caution. But then again, she was a fast learner. She nodded without thinking, making a smile appear across his bumper. Callie followed him the rest of the way down. They leveled at the starting/finish line side by side. He talked her through it as they went around the track at a safe speed. By the third time of trying, Callie got it down, much to Lightning's amazement. "Are you sure you've never raced before?" he asked her as they drove slowly around the track, cooling down after their workout.

"Never."

"You're very good at it."

"Well, thank you." A smile broke across her silver bumper. He smiled back. They silently sat in the shade of a cactus like Callie had done previously. Lightning broke the silence.

"So Callie, what have you been doing?" she looked over at him.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, where have you been for the last few years, did you stay in New York or did you travel world?" he asked her.

"I stayed in New York. I had met a… a friend, his name was Evan. He helped me get back on my… tires," she said, almost saying 'feet'. Lightning nodded.

"That's good, very good."

"Hmm, not really," she sighed.

"What? Why?" Tears brimmed her eyes as she recalled all of the torture she went through with Evan. "Callie, what's wrong?" he asked, worry filling his voice.

"Well, after a while we started going out and…" she trailed off like she did with Doc up at Wheel Well.

"What happened?"

"After a while he started to—to do things to me… hit me and bruise me." She recalled the bruise she had had on her neck.

"Oh, Callie!" he whispered. She sobbed and closed her eyes, letting the tears fall. At the sight of the tears he suddenly felt responsible for her; he felt a strong feeling for her, a brotherly feeling. He embrace the young car, letting her lean against him. Lightning suddenly felt his throat closing up painfully, tears stinging at his eyes as well. "Callie, I'm so sorry. Your mother… our mother… wanted me to look after you and I didn't! It's my fault you had to go through that. All of those years of us being apart… my fault."

"No, Lightning it wasn't your fault," she disagreed with him. She willed the tears to stop falling so she could talk right.

"Says you," he laughed. They stayed like that for a while, rebuilding the family bond between them. Callie stared straight ahead as she felt how comforting Lightning's side felt. She was so happy that she was with her brother again. She never realized how much she had missed him.


	7. Chapter 7

The whole town could see that Lightning and Callie were getting closer and closer everyday. The newly developed family bond was stronger than ever. After that day Callie had raced side by side with her brother, he started giving her lessons along with his own. She was just like her brother, racing wise anyway. She was fast and with top notch reflexes, making Doc realize that racing was in her blood. It always had been.

Callie laughed as she passed Lightning on the stretch of the dirt track.

"Hey!" he called out in surprise. He hadn't seen her coming.

A grin spread across her grill as she went up along the side of the wall with her brother right on her tail. She admired his racing skills and realized how good he was at it. It definitely suited him as a career.

She approached the trick turn and was ready to take it on but then something happened. She gasped as she slid off of the track; throwing dirt in every direction. When she stopped she saw Lightning pulling up to her, laughing his hood off.

"It's not funny!" she whined stamping her tire into the ground. "I hate it when I do that! And I do it all the time!"

"Oh come on! Most cars wouldn't be as good as you!"

"Yeah, but it's all because I'm related to a race car," she muttered.

Lightning chuckled as they started to drive off back to the town.

"That was a great practice, Callie. You were great! We'll work on that turn some more though."

"Good idea."

They pulled up into Flo's V8 Café and Flo immediately asked them if they wanted their usual. Callie had been there only for a few days and the town was already getting to know her like she had been there for years! She was starting to learn the town, too.

Sally had given her a little bit more information about Radiator Spring's past along with Doc's speech he had given her on her first night there. It really was interesting as to how such a little place could have such a big past to go along with it. She was knocked out of her thoughts by Flo placing her oil can in front of her.

"Oh, thanks Flo," she said as she paid her for the drink. She looked over and saw Mater talking to Lightning. She saw them glance over at her a few times and she gave them a confused glance in return.

They started to move back toward her direction with Mater having a huge grin but then she saw Lightning's doubtful expression.

"What's up?" she asked them.

"Come on, follow us!" Mater whispered to her like a little kid with a big secret.

She looked over to Lightning to explain what Mater meant but he just shrugged and followed him.

She looked around at the café before following them to Mater's junkyard. She pulled into the tiny lot and looked around at all of the tires and pieces of scrap metal, wondering how someone could be such a pack rat. She halted to look at the two guys.

Mater had an excited look in his eye and she knew immediately that he was up to something and by Lightning's expression, he didn't favor it much.

"We're gonna let ya in on a lil' secret," Mater whispered. "I'm sure ya saw the field in your little tour a few days back."

"Yes…?" she answered him uncertainly.

"Well, every Friday night, me an' Lightnin' here like to go down there and have a little fun with the tractors."

She stared at them in disbelief.

"What do you mean by "fun"?"

Mater rolled his eyes.

"City gal," he muttered under his breath.

"It's called 'tractor tipping'," Lightning stepped in to save her.

"Yeah, except Lightnin' has tuh use his engine to tip 'em considering he ain't got no horn. You got a horn right?"

"Yeah," she said with a nod of her hood.

Mater grinned again.

"It's Friday night so we're gonna go have some fun tonight! With you as a newbie!"

"Oh boy," Lightning muttered.

She drove along carefully down the dark road toward the tractor field. Mater had told her to meet them there and she was beginning to think they ditched her. She pointed her headlights into the field along the fence; looking for the gap that Mater had said was right at the very starting point of it. She found it and carefully stepped over it, feeling it rub uncomfortably against her undercarriage. She looked across the field as far as her headlights would allow her.

"Mater? Lightning?" she hissed in the dark. Suddenly she saw something dark move in her side vision. She looked over to the right but couldn't see anything. She was about to call out their names again but then she heard something to her left. She turned that way and came face to face with Mater.

"Boo!" he exclaimed. When he saw she didn't even flinch he put on a puppy pout face. "Aw, man! I was gonna scare yas!"

"I'm from New York Mater, always expect the unexpected," she said as she looked around for Lightning in the dark. "Where's Lightning?"

"Right behind Mater." He pulled out from behind the tow truck but then recoiled at the brightness of her headlights. "Hey, put those out! You don't want to wake the tractors ahead of time."

She did as she was told and waited for her eyes to adjust, as well as Lightning and Mater.

When they started to pull away from her, she followed suit.

"Alright bud, when it's yur turn, make sure to leave some for Callie," Mater whispered to Lightning.

She stared at the dark form that was one of the tractors.

Its front was moving up and down slowly with every breath it took, making quiet mooing sounds.

She suddenly felt bad for doing this to the tractors, but Mater promised it would be fun.

"Back up," she heard Lightning say from beside her. She reversed back a few feet and watched Mater continue to do his specialty. The sudden noise of Mater's horn made her jump. So much for "always expect the unexpected." She stared at the tractor as it startled awake with a shocked 'moo'. It rolled forward and tipped back, eventually making the gas backfire, which sounded just like a human fart to her. She cocked a windshield at it.

Mater burst out laughing at it. "Alright bud, your turn!"

"Maybe we should let Callie go first?" Lightning asked him.

"Hmm, you might be right." Mater looked over at her. "Alright Miss. Callie, show us whatcha got!"

"Oh, but I'm not sure. I might sit this one out."

Mater looked at her like she was dumb. "There ain't no "sittin' out" in tractor tippin'!"

She bit her lip. "Oh alright!" she drove up in front of the nearest tractor and glanced back at Mater like Lightning had the first time he went. Mater even did the same gesture he had done with Lightning. She sighed and turned back to her sleeping victim. She readied herself and honked her horn like Mater had. She watched as it tipped back and moved out of the way just in time as it rolled forward on its huge back tires. The gas backfired in the tractor just like the first time. She went back over next to Mater who still had a grin plastered on his face.

"Nice on Cal Gal!"

She officially had a new nickname. Great. She kept her eyes on Lightning as he moved to the center on the field, not in front of any tractor in particular. There was silence for a few minutes before he revved his engine so loud it scared her. Right after that every single tractor in the field began rearing up and fell back onto their backs with a startled 'moo'. She heard the sound of gas backfiring from every direction. After that, the night fell silent again except for the laughter coming from Lightning and Mater. She couldn't help herself. She just had to join in. Their laughter was interrupted by the sound of angry mooing from the distance that sounded a lot bigger and louder than the tractor's. She turned around to see bright lights coming through the trees. Suddenly she felt gusts of wind blow past her. She then realized that it was Mater and Lightning running for their lives. She stared at the lights until she came face to face with a huge combine machine. She screamed and swung herself around to follow the boys back to town. She heard the sound of the machine close behind her, threatening to rip her to shreds. She accelerated, praying she would make it. As the fence came into view she didn't stop until she broke through it, racing back to town all the while. They just had to leave out the little surprise at then end didn't they?


	8. Chapter 8

After getting back to the town from the tractor field, Callie pulled up into the parking lot of the Cozy Cone and saw Lightning and Sally talking in the lobby through the big glass windows. She let her engine idle for a few minutes and watched them intently, wondering what they were talking about. She saw Lightning laugh and a few seconds later he rolled up and kissed her. According to her eyes he kissed her passionately. _Really _passionately. She couldn't help but grin at this. She watched Lightning and Sally pull out of the lobby and head for their cones. Before Lightning pulled up into his she called out his name. "Hey Lightning!"

Lightning jumped at the sudden outburst behind him. He turned around to face her.

"Hey Callie, have fun tonight?"

She remembered the combine harvester and frowned angrily.

"Oh boy," he muttered.

"Yeah, thanks for telling me about that!"

"Look Callie I'm so sorry! I was going to tell you but Mater---"

"But Mater told you not to?"

"Well… he didn't tell me about it the first time he took me so… I just wanted to give you a little scare is all! I knew you would be able to get away fast enough."

Callie stared at him for a few more minutes before sighing. "Alright, I guess it was just a little harmless scare, I suppose. But don't you ever do anything to me like that ever again!"

Lightning laughed. "Alright, I promise." After a minute of silence Callie decided to get nosy.

"So… you and Sally, huh?" she asked with a playful grin.

"Oh, boy, don't go there Callie."

"No! I think it's really cute that you found a girl," she said.

Lightning shrugged. "Yeah, she's… she's something special alright."

"Yea, nice to know you have a good, healthy relationship," she muttered, thinking back to Evan in the human world. She shivered at the horrible memories. Lightning knew instantly what she was thinking of. She heard him drive up to her.

"Hey, it's okay. You're safe now. He's not going to bother you. He's all the way across the U.S." he comforted her.

She nodded. "Yeah, it's just scary to know that he's still out there."

"There are always going to be those types of cars in the world, Callie. Don't let it bother you," he said with a comforting nudge to her fender.

"Thanks Lightning." He just wasn't across the U.S.; he was in a completely different universe! She swallowed as she realized this. She had actually been considering telling them about the human world but she was still worried about how they would react. Revealing the humans would probably send the car world on high alert. Scared as heck as they raced around, worried about other human aliens popping up in their world. It just screamed chaos.

"Callie? Callie are you with me?" she heard Lightning ask.

She shook her hood. "Yeah, yeah I'm here. I'm fine." Oh man, she was in a dilemma now.

"Alright, you blacked out there for a second."

"Yeah…" then she remembered something. It was a question she had been wanting to ask him since she arrived here. "Lightning? Do you have any idea what happened to our father?" She watched him stare off into space for a while before he finally answered her.

"You were too young to remember mom's explanation. She had said that he died before I really knew him," he said. He looked back down at his sister with sad eyes.

"Wow, our family sure is messed up," she muttered silently.

Lightning nodded slowly in agreement. "A lot of families are probably going through this."

"You think so?" she asked him in a doubtful tone.

"Oh I'm sure. It's a big world."

_Bigger than you think_ she thought to herself. She looked up at the sky and wondered if they saw the same stars in the human world. It's not like she actually _missed _the human world, she would much rather be in the cars world where she rightfully belonged. She really missed being in her universe when she first arrived in the human world. She was also very, very confused, too. In the beginning, a couple had actually taken her in and they became her new 'parents' but she knew who she really was. Years passed and she started to become accustomed to being a human. She even started to like it. Things got even better when she came upon love: Evan. He started out as her best friend in school and then they moved up the rank to boyfriend and girlfriend. But then things took a turn for the worse when she saw how Evan really was. "Horrible," she whispered silently, but Lightning could still hear the faint word.

"There are a lot of horrible things in the world." But Callie didn't hear him say it. He looked down at her and saw her expression. "Maybe you should go and get some rest, Callie. You don't look too good." He guided her over to her cone, cone number two.

"Yeah, see you in the morning, Lightning," she said to him.

_Maybe I shouldn't have agreed with Mater with the tractor tipping tonight _he thought to himself as he watched her go into her cone and close the door. He had to admit, he was pretty worried for her. He wasn't exactly sure what she had gone through but he knew this much: her boyfriend had been abusing her. But then again he felt like she wasn't telling him something, and he felt it was pretty important, whatever it was. He drove up into his own cone thinking about whether he should ask her or let her tell it herself. He weighed the two options in his mind. If he waited for her to tell it on her own, she probably wouldn't even tell it anyway. It was just the kind of car she was. If he asked her directly, she would probably tell him if he pestered her enough. But then again he didn't want to be annoying. He sighed. He was so confused. After a few more minutes of thinking, he made up his mind. He would go to a professional.

Author's Note:

Not so sure I like this chapter. I might just change it. Tell me what you think.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note:

Alright, here it is. The ninth chapter of a memory returns. I know that I've been spitting out chapters like crazy… well, most of the time anyway. But writing is my passion. Enjoy! Let me know what you think, feedback would be great.

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When Lightning woke up he almost forgot about last night but then the sound of doc's voice outside jogged his memory.

"Come on rookie! Get up! We have to get to the track," Doc shouted from outside.

Lightning opened the cone of his door and came face to face with Doc. Lightning expected him to look angry but he didn't have any expression on his face at all; it was just blank.

Doc turned around and headed back toward the road with Lightning on his tail. While they headed to the track, Lightning thought about Callie and how he was going to ask Doc about her. Then he thought whether or not Callie had told him anything that he could pass on to Lightning so he could get a clue. He looked over at the beautiful sunrise as he thought about this.

"Alright kid, today I want you to do… twenty laps today. Thirty's tops," he instructed him.

Lightning forced himself out of his daze and headed out onto the track and took off under the watchful eyes of Doc.

"Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear Doc."

"Alright, you're doing great. The progress is astounding, with you and Callie."

"Thanks, I really think she's getting better every time we practice. After all she is my sister; it's in her blood I suppose." When Doc didn't answer him he accelerated around the turn in the dirt track. He continued this until Doc called him in. Lighting pulled up to him, heated up after his workout. Then he decided to cut to the chase. "Doc? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure kiddo, what is it?"

"It's about… Callie. I think she's hiding something important from me, something she needs to talk about. I was wondering whether I should ask her directly or wait for her to talk. I'm not sure. I figured that you would know how to handle something like this since you can sense when something is out of place, you know?"

Doc nodded silently. "Yes, a few nights ago I was talking to her up at Wheel Well. It was about your guy's mother. She was about to tell me but she stopped short."

Lightning's eyes went wide. He just now realized that he still hadn't told the town about what had happened to their mom. He pursed his lips. He did tell Sally that he would tell him… maybe now is the right time.

"Actually, she is hiding something… and so am I," he said quietly.

Doc fixed a slightly confused gaze on him. "What do you mean?"

Lightning looked up at him. "I mean that we're hiding something of the same… department. It is about our mother and what happened to her, long ago." Lightning began the story of how their mother had gotten killed and how he had lost Callie in the crowd and how he never saw her again up until now. After he was through Doc stayed silent, thinking it over.

"I never… imagined that that had happened to you two," he said slowly.

Lightning nodded. "Yeah it's, hard to go through."

Doc looked back over to the young race car. "Are you two okay?"

"Yes, we're fine. It's easier to go through now that we've found each other again."

"I bet it is."

Just then Lightning remembered the real question he was asking Doc. "Umm, she didn't happen to talk about anything else did she?"

"Like what?"

"Well, what I said before: I feel that Callie is hiding something else. I need to know whether or not I should ask her." Doc stayed silent, thinking about Lightning's question.

"Well, what do you think?" he asked him.

"I think that if I ask her directly I would be annoying to her, but then if I wait for her to tell it on her own, then she may not even talk at all."

"I don't think you would be annoying to her, I think that it would show her that you care about her," Doc said with a shrug. "Now, about the whole 'not talking' thing. I think that she'd talk about it once she's ready. That's what every one else does in this town. If something's bothering them, they eventually talk about it. Take you for example. You talked about your mother to me a few minutes ago."

"Yeah, but--"

"But, nothing. Look, what I'm trying to say is, wait for her to talk. She'll eventually decide that it's important for us to know."

Lightning stared at the ground for a moment as he absorbed what Doc said. He still didn't think that Callie would talk about it. He really didn't. But then again, Doc was a wise car, someone who knew what they were talking about. Then again, again, it's her sister. Lightning furrowed his brow in confusion. Finally, he made a decision, though he wasn't sure it really was his _final _decision. He was going to try to talk to Callie, no matter what Doc said. This wasn't the first time he was disobeying him.

When they went back into town Lightning immediately started to search for Callie, wanting to get it over with. He caught sight of her down at the café with the others. As he pulled up into the lot of the joint, he went over what he was going to say in his head, of which he had no idea. He was just going to have to wing it.

"Hey, Callie."

"Oh, hey Lightning," she said with a smile.

"Do you want to take a short drive?" Lightning asked, feeling Doc's eyes on him.

"Sure." They headed off in Wheel Well's direction. As they drove along the road Callie pondered the reason why Lightning would just ask her to take a drive. She glanced over at him as they passed by the beautiful waterfall. She hoped it wasn't anything bad or something she would get mad at. Or maybe even… Her eyes went wide. What if it's about the _human world?_ She swallowed, hoping it was anything but that. As they pulled up to the edge of the cliff they both realized they were nervous. Callie was about to say something but Lightning beat her to it.

"So, how have you been doing?" he asked her, trying to spark a conversation.

"Good, you?"

Lightning nodded. "Great, training's been going really well."

"Good to hear it," she said with a grin.

Lightning was getting tired of being off of the real subject so he decided to get it back on the tracks.

"Callie, is anything bothering you? Anything you'd want to talk to me about?"

She looked over at him in confusion. "What are you getting at?"

"It seems like there's more bothering you other than Evan. Do you want to talk about it?"

So it was about the human world. He just didn't know it yet.

"No, everything's fine."

"You're sure?" he asked her with an extremely doubtful expression.

"Yes I'm sure! Why are you bothering me about it?"

_Oh, boy. I knew it would annoy her. Maybe I should have just listened to Doc._

"I just thought that I would just ask you about it is all---"

"Well you don't have to! 'Cause nothing's wrong!" she exclaimed.

"Listen, Callie if something's wrong then why don't you tell me?"

"Because nothing is wrong!" She turned around and raced back into town. Great, now her brother was suspicious! Now she knew that you can't keep any secrets in this town. She raced through Main Street and screeched to a stop in front of her cone. She drove up the ramp and closed the door. The longer she thought about it the worse she felt. Maybe she shouldn't have done that to Lightning. She imagined him back up at Wheel Well with a shocked expression on his face. She sighed and looked down at the floor with her anger immediately replaced with regret. She had missed her one chance to tell him and after that show she just put on, revealing the truth to him is going to even harder than it was going to be before.


	10. Chapter 10

Lightning McQueen stared blankly at the computer screen in front of him. He had talked Doc into letting him use his office computer that was somewhere in the back of the clinic. He was going to try something. Something that he wasn't sure that was going to work, but it was worth a shot. He sighed and typed into the machine his last name, and then he backtracked to the very beginning and pressed the space bar. He wasn't about to look himself up, he was going to try to find someone close to him: his father.

He had recently remembered his father's first name thanks to his mother telling him all those years ago. He paused before he typed in the word 'Adam' in the Google search. He looked over the name 'Adam McQueen' and suddenly felt very nervous. What if he found something? What would he do if he actually found out that his father was _alive_? Is that even possible? He let all of the thoughts run through his mind dizzily. He groaned and pressed 'enter' to search it instead of just staring at it until his blue eyes faded.

His eyes raked down the screen from top to bottom. He saw many links with the names 'Adam' and 'McQueen.' He even found a documentary about himself, which wasn't much of a shocker. Even though out of all of the sites that came up, not one of them was what he was looking for. He frowned and went back up to the search area and at the beginning and the end he put in quotation marks so he could get the words directly next to each other. He researched it and what came up first is what he clicked on. He skimmed through it then he found something interesting.

**Adam McQueen:**

**Racer of a Lifetime**

Number 75, more commonly known as Adam McQueen, set the first record at the Mugello Circuit. Racing around the famous, and enormously huge track, setting a worldwide record of three rounds in just six minutes. The Ferrari managed this with ease and much admired excellence.

Lightning's eyes went wide as far as his windshield would allow. The Mugello Circuit was an Italian track. His father was a Ferrari in the European Circuit? _Who knew? _he thought to himself. He continued down at page eagerly, not reading the rest of 'Racer of a Lifetime.' His oil then ran cold as he saw the headline of the next article: **The Tragic Death of Adam McQueen**.

"No…" he whispered. His eyes tore through the lettering wildly in panic.

**The Tragic Death of Adam McQueen**

The currently famous racecar, number 75, was killed in a horrific accident during a once in a lifetime race. He had confidently made the cut of the event, being one of the few racers to get a chance at the award trophy. Little did he know, little did all of us know, that he would not be completing his fortieth race, and his last.

Lightning felt his eyes tearing up as he scrolled down at page. He soon found a picture of his father through his tears. He blinked them away and saw that his mom wasn't exaggerating. He _was _a spitting image of him. If he had ever met him, he would have probably thought there was a mirror in front of him.

Well, he did learn something today. His father had been a famous racecar, a Ferrari, on the European Circuit and his life had ended tragically in a high speed crash. His mom wasn't lying about that. He really did die before Lightning knew him. He was alone, he and his sister. They were the only McQueen's left, unless Lightning decided to get married and have a kid sometime in the future, which was more than likely. He sighed and turned off the monitor and the computer altogether. Oh, man will he have fun telling Callie about this. Actually, they both had their own special secrets that they had yet to share.

Author's Note:

Now you know what happened to McQueen and Callie's father! Looked up 'Italian racetracks' and came up with Mugello Circuit and I just guessed about the track record, but oh well! It works right? Couldn't think of a better ending, lol… R&R! Please!


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note:

Chapter twelve. Nuff said.

The next day, Lightning immediately went to find Callie to tell her about the information he had found about his father online. As he pulled up to the café early that morning he discovered that she wasn't there. He took another quick glance around the cars but failed again to spot her. He frowned and started to reverse but he then realized that Doc wasn't there either. As he drove off down the road he tried to think about where they would be considering it was more than likely they were together. _If I were an old racecar from the fifties or a fifteen year old girl, where would I be? _he thought to himself as he gazed around the town. Suddenly, it occurred to him. Willie's Butte. He immediately raced out to that direction and sure enough, Callie was just coming up on the trick turn, ready to take it on. His eyes searched around for the old Hudson Hornet before he found him on the ledge, overlooking Callie as she crossed the finish line for the twentieth time that day.

"All right Cal, pull it in," Doc called to her over the headset.

Lightning watched his sister drive up over the slight hill and up to Doc with a grin on her face.

"Nice job kiddo. Next time we'll--," but he stopped short as he caught Lightning in the corner of his vision. "Oh, hey Rookie, when did you get here?"

"About a minute ago," he replied with a slight shrug of his fenders.

Doc nodded. "Something you would like to ask?"

"Actually it's something I would like to say… to Callie."

Her eyes filled with confusion, as well as her expression, at Lightning's statement.

"Alright, we're already done here so she's all yours. I'm gonna head to the café and leave you two alone." He rolled up back to the road.

Lightning caught a whisper of the sound of a real racer engine rumbling from underneath Doc's hood as he continued off back to the town. A faint half smile crept up onto his lips at the glorious sound. "Hey, Cal Gal."

She sighed angrily. "Please don't call me that."

"Alright, alright! I'm sorry, sis." They stayed silent for a while as Lightning, being the coward that he sometimes is, gathered up the nerve to tell Callie the truth about their father and how he just didn't die randomly. "Listen, I really need to tell you something."

She blinked and looked back up to him from the dirty earth. _You're not the only one that has to say something…_

"It's about our father. He just didn't die out of the blue like mom had said…"

Her eyes widened at the string of words that came tumbling out of his mouth. "What? How else could he have died?"

He took a deep breath, preparing himself. "Our mom had said that he had died, but she didn't say _how _he had died. I looked up online our father's name, Adam McQueen, and it said that he was a," he sighed, "a racer on the European Circuit. Number 75, which is surprisingly close to 95 in a way…"

She stayed silent for a long time, staring in shock at her brother's face. Then she snapped out of it enough to answer him. "Lightning, you can't trust every website you go to! That could have been a bunch of baloney for all we know!"

"No, this was real! It had a picture of him and everything. It was a real newspaper print out and I should know! I see them all the time online about me and they'reall true. Why should this one be any different?" He stared at her sternly, waiting somewhat impatiently for an answer but she just sighed and gave up.

"How did he die again?"

"In an accident of the most important race of his career," he sighed sadly.

"Oh my _god_!"

Lightning jumped at her sudden outburst.

"How in the hell could mom not tell us about the truth about our own father?!"

"I don't know," he replied simply, still keeping his cool. He watched as she closed her eyes and sighed, still seething from the information he had given her.

"That is… that is just… stupid! How could she... how could she do this to us?! That is just…"

Lightning patiently let her vent it all out. He had known that she was going to blow up in his face. But luckily he was prepared for it. He comforted her by rolling up and nuzzled her fender in a friendly manner. "Now, now Callie… I'm sure mom had had a good reason to not tell us the whole story. She probably didn't want us to know because it would have hurt us."

She made a noise that sounded like a sob and a sigh at the same time. "I know… it's just that we deserved to know the truth about our own father! I didn't even know him! I don't remember him at all!"

"I know, I never really saw him much either. I suppose it was because he was in the European Circuit but I'm not for sure why I never got to see him. I mean, I hardly even _knew _him in the first place."

She looked up at him in astonishment. "Why aren't you all ate up about this?"

He thought about it for a minute before answering. "Well, considering that I wasn't very 'familiar' with him I suppose that he… wasn't necessarily apart of my life."

"But you don't know him anymore than I do. Why should I be anymore upset than you?"

"I'm not trying to be offensive in anyway but sometimes girls are weaker than males when it comes to this kind of…" he trailed off at the sight of her expression. Let's just say she looked like he had said that he didn't give a crapabout their mother or their father whatsoever.

"What about mom? You were pretty upset about her as much as---"

"Alright, you know what? Just drop it! Okay, you're right. I was being totally sexist when I said that."

"Yes you were and I want an apology." She looked him up and down angrily.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it," he sighed.

"Thank you!" She reversed to go back to the town and get a cold beverage at Flo's when Lightning stopped her.

"Hey, you know I was serious about that apology right?" he called to her nervously.

She turned back around halfway to look at him. "Yeah, I'm aware of it."

He watched her drive on down the road with her silver paint reflecting brightly off of her curved Porsche body. He sighed. He was really hoping that she would've talked to him about what she was hiding, but his hope failed on him yet again. This kind of stuff was supposed to happen on Friday the 13th.

As Callie drove on down the road she watched the white lines that were painted on the middle of the road slip past her. But it wasn't the lines that were slipping, it was her. She could feel herself falling away from her brother more and more with each argument. It felt horrible considering that they had just gotten together again! She rolled up into the café to sit in her normal spot. She watched Flo drive up to her.

"You want anything sweety?"

Since Lightning's last sentence he had said to her, she just lost her appetite. "No thanks, Flo. I'm good."

"Is everything okay with you and Lightning?"

She looked up at her with wide eyes. It was like the people in the town could read her mind or something! She certainly hoped not. "Yeah… everything's cool."

The old show car gave her a doubtful look, showing she wasn't buying a word of what she was saying.

"Really Flo, it's nothing that I can't work out."

"You're positive?"

Callie sighed after staring into her emerald green eyes for ten seconds, knowing she wasn't going to believe anything she said. "No." She looked down at the cement ground sadly.

Flo motioned to her to follow her into her office. "Come, come. Let's talk about it."

She followed her respectively and pulled up into the Café's main room.

"Alright, what's wrong?" she asked in a motherly tone like she was used to talking with cars in the town and helping to work out their problems.

"Well, it's me and Lightning… we're not really getting along very well anymore…"

"Think about the 'why.' Why are you not comfortable around each other anymore? Then what ever it is, talk to him about it." she said simply.

Callie nodded slowly. "Yeah, I was thinking about talking to him but… it's a dangerous, so called, 'situation' I'm in."

"What do you mean? Is it a secret about your parents? Or maybe even what had happened to you when you were separated?"

"Yes, it's sort of what happened to me. Actually it is."

"Alright, I'm not going to get nosy about it. Why don't you speak about it to your brother?"

"Like I said: it's a dangerous secret."

"Maybe it's not dangerous… maybe it's just embarrassing? Do you think you're getting the two mixed up?"

"No, not at all! I'm just not really sure if I should put the spotlight on this. It could… well it could actually put me in a nuthouse, let's just say that."

Flo looked at her in a confused state. "A nuthouse, huh?"

Callie nodded. "It can and it will."

"How important is it? Do you _really _think this should be addressed out in the open?"

The thoughts about the human world buzzed around in her head like a hundred flies. Maybe it really was necessary for the car's world to know. After all, she could become famous for discovering it. But what about the nuthouse theory? If the scientists couldn't find proof about this other universe, then what? She'd be arrested for causing a false alarm! She gulped at the thought. Actually there could be a way out of this… She could terrorize her brother into not telling! _No, that's too violent… I don't want to scare him anymore than what I've already done._ But she could beg him, though. Yeah, begging could work.

"Callie? Earth to Callie," she heard Flo call out to her.

"Oh, hi," she said stupidly, "uh, I mean, thanks Flo! Maybe I'll talk about it tomorrow or something. Thanks again!" She reversed out of the office.

"You're welcome sweety! Come back anytime!" She smiled as the young Porsche backed out and up onto the road. It felt really good to help someone sometimes. 


	12. Chapter 12

Lightning looked over at the sunset and sighed. Radiator Springs had the most beautiful pastimes in all of Arizona, probably in the entire world. That's what he loved the most about the little town, that and Sally. His eyes moved over to the light blue Porsche almost automatically. She was so elegant and just as attractive from when the first time he came trampling into town. He never wanted to lose her. He would give up his racing career for her, no matter what Doc said to try to persuade him not to. He watched her as she started to pull away from the café, after she paid Flo for her drink, of course. He shifted into drive and followed her.

She glanced back in her rearview mirrors and saw a certain red stock car following her. She giggled and stopped to let him pull up next to her in the parking lot of her small motel known as the Cozy Cone. "Hey, Stickers."

"Hey, beautiful." He pulled up in front of her and pecked her on her lips, making her giggle again.

"What made you do that?"

"What do you mean 'what made me do that'? You're the most beautiful car in the world…"

She rolled her eyes playfully and continued into the lobby with him following her with ease. She caught sight of all the papers piled up on her desk, mocking her with their nonexistent eyes. She sighed tiredly.

Lightning saw what she was looking at and nudged her gently. "Hey, don't worry about all that stuff now. You gotta keep up your good looking image for this town." He winked at her when she looked up into his blue eyes. "You always manage to get it all done with no problem."

"Yeah," she sighed and pulled up behind her desk. "I know that… it is basically just lawyer stuff."

"Hmm, lawyering stuff, huh?" He grinned at her.

She sighed. "Yeah, pretty much."

He chuckled and pulled up next to her. "Ah, it's fine. You've been working hard all day and not to mention all night. I think it's time for a little break don't you?" He felt her lean up against him.

"Yeah, maybe…" She yawned widely. "But the sooner I get it done the sooner it's over with."

"And the longer you stay up to get it done, the risk of passing out becomes more than likely."

"Oh, Stickers, I'm not going to pass out." She laughed.

"I just don't want my girlfriend being over worked, that's all."

Sally was about to respond but another engine from outside interrupted her. They both immediately recognized it as Callie's.

"Lightning, can I- oh, sorry you two." She shrank back out of the doorway at the sight of them huddled up behind the desk.

"Oh, no you're fine Callie, come on in," Sally welcomed her with a smile.

"Thanks Sally. Lightning can I, umm… talk to you real quick?"

"Sure thing Cal. Sally I'll be right back." He waited for her to nod before he turned around.

Callie immediately felt nervous as they began to roll off down the street. She couldn't believe she was about to spill about the human world. She felt like she was about to throw up all over the road in front of her. She turned in the direction of Willie's Butte. She looked back to make sure Lightning was following her, and he was. She wasn't even sure if she was happy about that.

"What's this all about Callie?" Lightning asked quietly from beside her after they parked in a comfortable spot overlooking the track.

"I'm sure you know there's… something I've been meaning to tell you. It's about what had happened when we got separated all those years ago…" She took the plunge into what had happened. She told everything about the human world. What humans looked like, what they ate, what their world looked like, their type of cars and about their schools as well. She told him everything she knew about the human world and once she got started, it was hard to stop considering of all the information she had on them. She explained how she became one of them and lived in their dimension for about eight years. Once she was done she was thoroughly surprised that he didn't look like he was about to go crazy. "Are you… okay with this? You don't think I'm crazy do you?" She watched him warily as he shook his hood.

"No, not at all. I actually… believe you."

"What?!" She wasn't expecting that, not at all.

"Yes, I do, I really do. You see, when I was really little our mom would always tell me these stories about other worlds and creatures. She said that there were other dimensions out there that we had yet to discover, such as the humans. Everything you said is what she used to say. Except she never used such detail, of course." He waited patiently for Callie to take it all in.

"But how did mom know all about that stuff?"

"Who knows? Maybe she's actually been there before." He shrugged. "I mean, if you've been there then I'm sure other cars have."

"You might just be right about that… oh and Lightning?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you not tell anyone about this? I'm sure not everyone will agree with this theory about other dimensions."

"You're secret is safe with me. It'll be one of those things that will go in and never come out."

"Thanks Lightning, for everything. For listening to me, for taking me in, well I should thank the whole town for that shouldn't I?"

"Oh, they already know you appreciate it, sis." He smiled as she leaned into him like Sally had done earlier. He leaned back and looked up at the stars that were just starting to show. Yep, Radiator Springs certainly did have its pastimes.

* * *

Author's Note:

Okay, this is the end of the line... maybe. Let me know what you think of the ending. Good or bad... yes or no.. stuff like that. Please and thank you!


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note:

Okay, final chapter and I mean it this time! The previous ending of the other chapter was just too… cliff hanger, you know? Enjoy this final chapter!

* * *

That night when Callie had ended up back in the car's world had been the best night of her life; she just hadn't known it yet. She wouldn't rather have ended up anywhere else than in that little town on Route 66, with her brother and all of the other residents in the town. After she told Lightning about the human world they told the whole town their story. What happened with their mother and their father, how they got separated and even a little bit of their past before all that happened. But the only thing the two siblings didn't tell the town was about the human world. That will be their little secret until the end of time and they had both agreed on it one hundred percent. The thought of the humans, especially Evan, still ran through the young Porsche's mind but it was better than forgetting the memories she had had there. She will never forget about him or the other universe, she was certain about that.

Staring up at the construction site before her made her both nervous and happy at the same time. It had been about two to three years since Callie McQueen had ended up in Radiator Springs and she was just beginning to start a new life in the small town by building her own little joint. It was going to be called 'The Dance Bowl' and it was just what this town needed. A little place to just hang out on a cool Friday night to just dance and talk. She had always been interested in hangouts like this, whether in the car's world or the human world.

"Excited?" a voice asked from behind her.

She turned around to come face to face with a grinning red racecar. "You can say that." She smiled in return before turning back to the mess that was soon to be a new building.

"You know, this was a good idea. It was just what this old dust bowl needed."

Callie scoffed. "You're right about that. I talked to Flo the other day and she said that she would help me run it for the time being."

"Hm, that's good. You could always use a little help in the start of things." He looked over to see her nodding in agreement.

"Hey, hey, hey you two!" They both turned around to see Mater standing behind them with his usual grin plastered on his rusty bumper.

"Hey, Mater, what's going on?" asked Lightning.

"Oh, not much, just doin' mah usual thang: drivin' around looking fer someone to tow."

"Yeah, sounds like fun. But don't they call you or something first?" Callie asked him.

"Oh, it's even better when you find 'em before they can even think 'bout callin'. It shows how good ya are at yur business." Mater winked at her, making her smile. "Speaking of business, this is sure one heck of a mess you done gots here Cal Gal."

She glanced back at the construction site behind them. "Yeah, but when it's done it'll be all spick-and-span! Real peachy keen like."

"Oh I believe dat. In fact, I remember when the Cozy Cone was just bein' set up. It wasn't as bad as this o' course but it was a pretty decent mess of itself but now look where it is!"

"Oh I agree. Lots of cars have been coming to stay there. It's been keeping Sally busy alright." Lightning looked down the street at her worriedly.

"Now Lightning, remember what she said about you bugging her about her staying up late."

"Oh, I know Callie. I just can't help it." Lightning sighed. They sat in the still silence except for the distant chatter of the other cars down the road.

Callie listened closely and heard them talking about The Dance Bowl. She listened harder and hoped to hear a good comment about it and sure enough, Sally's voice rang out to her.

"You know, I'm sort of glad Callie's opening up The Dance Bowl. It'll bring more attraction to families, especially teenagers."

"Oh, I agree. It was a pretty good idea," Flo chimed in.

Callie grinned at hearing this. Maybe the new establishment wasn't such a bad addition to the town after all.

"Hey Callie, I was wondering whether or not you wanted to go tractor tipping with me and Lightning tonight?"

She looked up at Mater who had been the one to take her away from her thoughts. "Oh I don't know Mater I have to take care of…" she trailed off after seeing the sad puppy dog look cross his expression as well as his eyes. Oh man, that got her every time! After all, it was kinda fun going to the field to mess with Frank. "Oh, alright! Just don't ditch me again like the first time." She gave them both a warning glance.

"Whoo, hoo! The Three Musketeers are back!" Mater then traveled on down the road with his tow cable swinging wildly behind him.

Callie laughed at his absurdity. She knew this much, as long as she was living in Radiator Springs, life will never be boring.


End file.
